Author: Tom

A Scotsman who lives in England. An ex-Serviceman (23 years), ex-Retail (25 years). From 2007 - Creative Writer and Artist.

Maintaining a Presence

On By TomIn Competitions, General, Insight, Novel, Poetry2 Comments

My graphic for today is a drawing I completed of Linda Lusardi, ex-glamour model.  For a few years in the 1980’s she adorned the pages of tabloid

Ex-model, still glamorous …

newspapers.  Back then she was stunning and I was reminded of her looks today when I saw her briefly on a celebrity cookery programme.  Since finishing her modelling career Linda became a ‘personality’ and has made regular appearances to ensure she isn’t forgotten too quickly.

On the subject of forgetting things, instead of finishing off the two short stories I’ve been working on for a few weeks I’ve added a third to the mix.  I know there are those that would prefer to get one done at a time but I feel more comfortable being able to move between different tales.  I’ve found that I may write something in a particular story that prompts an idea or a twist for one of the others.

The three stories are all totally different which I’m also pleased about.  I’ve already decided that when I ‘ve completed one of them I’ll begin another straight away to see if I can maintain three on the go.  In the background I’m still working on the rewriting of Chapter 2 of my novel.

As much as I try, I’ve found that I am still writing a regular poem.  I’ve written three recently, ‘Believe in Yourself’, ‘Welcome To My World’ and ‘My Garage’.  Strange I know, but the third of them was an exercise in ‘word painting’ to meet a challenge in The Starlite Cafe site.

I’ve posted a few more pieces of my artwork on the Apollo Blessed site as well as some more poetry.  It’s a friendly place and it’s nice to have more than one place to go.  Checking the sort of things other folk are posting can be quite inspirational.

Only Time Will Tell

On By TomIn Competitions, General, Insight, Novel, Poetry1 Comment
One of many ...
My graphic is once again an acrylic on canvas.  I painted it in July 2010, basing it on a photograph I took of one of Amsterdam’s many canals.
‘Only Time Will Tell’ is the latest release by one of my writing heroes, Jeffrey Archer.  This book is the first in a series that come under the general heading of The Clifton Chronicles.  Jeffrey has used a technique I’ve never seen before which involves using a clever mix of first and third person viewpoint.  It brings the characters to life incredibly well and allows the story to unfold in a way that the reader will not forget anybody.
I thoroughly enjoyed the read and my only disappointment was that it had to come to an end.  I am now looking forward eagerly to the next one which is due for publication early next year.
On a personal note, I am still adding some of my artwork, poetry and short stories to the Apollo Blessed site.  Apart from reading Mr. Archer’s superb tale in four days I’ve been working on my own story this week.  My novel has seen so many alterations over recent months, but it is a good thing.  I first of all changed the name, then from autobiography to fact-based fiction.  In my latest sessions I’ve altered it from first person viewpoint to third person because I felt I needed more freedom.
In recent months I’ve taken to working over and over on my short stories to get them as polished as possible before entering them into any competition.  I have two underway so working on my novel is a good distraction.
I am once again trying to put poetry on the back burner so that I can concentrate on other things, but having said that I wrote and posted ‘Number 700’ a few days ago.  In one way it felt like a landmark and in another it felt like a good time to stop the regular verse writing for a while.